Success – What is it and how do we achieve it?

23rd November 2018

Ahhhhh, Success.

Everyone wants it in business and personal life. But what is it, how do we achieve it and why is it important? Over the coming months we’ll be releasing a number of interviews with people from all corners of the hospitality industry to gain some insight into the subject of success and what it means to them. This is something of a passion project for me as it pains me how much negativity gets written about this amazing industry (as a reminder of how awesome it really is, check out my previous article on the matter https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-hospitality-greatest-industry-earth-phil-street/ ) so I’m doing my bit. I want to shout about the successes in the industry, they really are everywhere, and you don’t need to look too hard.

But before all that, I thought it’d be relevant that I chip in with my own thoughts, so here we go.

What is Success?

The Oxford English dictionary defines it as “The accomplishment of an aim or purpose”. Straight away we can see that this is incredibly broad, everybody measures success in very different ways. As a very simple example, let’s take the London Marathon. Of the 50,000 or so entries received every year, the measuring of success is vastly different. Some (A very few amount) will be entering to win, they’ll measure success on whether they achieve that or not. For the vast majority, just finishing will be their measure for success.

So quite simply, everybody’s success meter is very different. You need to be comfortable with that to start with and there would be no point in measuring your own success against the winner of the event if you are not a professional marathon runner. Granted, that’s a touch obvious.

How do we achieve Success?

For me, the only true measure of success is quite simply to ask yourself (honestly), did you do your best, is there anything you can change to make it better and if so, what do I need to do implement it? If you do these things, you’ll never be too far from your own path to success.

Personally, success is all about happiness. Everything I do is about achieving that. Clichéd? Perhaps, but I know within myself that I find it difficult to achieve anything if I’m unhappy in doing it. That’s at work and play. Hardly ground breaking, I know, but I’m sure a great deal many people overlook this simple motivation.

Why is Success important?

I think in the main, it’s important as it’s fundamentally a positive thing to have in your life, but only if you set realistic targets to achieve it. If you are setting lofty goals and never hitting them, this can have the opposite desired effect. Success also helps you progress, both personally and professionally.

So, what does success look like to you? I’m genuinely interested to know. Please leave a comment below and tune in throughout 2019 to find out what it means to your leaders and peers.